My viola is a 17" Gems2 Gliga model I bought around 2007. And while I started to learn some things with it, it didn't go very far.

The reason it didn't go far is because of being in the military and deployments. I'm now active duty for just over 18yrs. I'm also a ham radio operator and working on fixing up a 27' sailboat. I currently live in Northern Virginia.

I saw some of the Fiddlerman videos on Youtube and thought I'd come to this forum to see about getting back to learning my viola. So even though I learned a little at first, I'm basically started off from scratch again.

While checking out and tuning my viola, the A string broke and I recently replaced it. The strings are D'Adarrio Helicore, Extra Long. It came with Dominant strings but when one broke, I replaced them all to the Helicore. I also had an issue of the pegs slipping often so recently got some peg dope to get them to stay in place.

The only learning book I have at the moment is Essential Elements Book 1 for Viola. I'm going to start working through that again and see if that gets me anywhere.

~Daniel

“A sailor’s joys are as simple as a child’s.” — Bernard Moitessier

BillyG

Brora, North-east Scotland

February 1, 2016 - 12:25 pm

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Welcome @Dan - it will be good to get back to your viola after those few years - you'll find answers in almost anything the forum and I'm sure FiddlerMan's video tutorials and learning tools will get you up-and-running in no time. Oh - radio amateur here as well GM6JHH - enjoy the site and the journey with your viola !

BillyG

I seriously recommend not copying my mistakes. D'oh -

Please make your own, different mistakes, and help us all learn :-)

Ripton

Vermont, Massachusetts or somewhere in between

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February 1, 2016 - 2:57 pm

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Welcome Dan. Also a Viola player and I gravitate towards the folk/bluegrass style of music. Although I will try anything that my brain will allow... Lots of help here. I was and am over at Violaman.com but there is a lot less participation on that Fiddlerman site.

Dan

Virginia, near DC

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February 1, 2016 - 4:33 pm

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hi @BillyG, @Ripton,

Thanks for the welcome. It'll be interesting to see how this goes. I was on violaman.com too but came here first as it looked like there was more activity here. I figure the techniques are about the same, just different size/sounds with the instruments.

When I was younger, I was interested in violin's, but now, being 6'5" and big hands, I figured a viola would be a better fit and I'm happy with it so far. I like the lower, more mellow sounds of the viola.

GM6JHH de W4ABN

“A sailor’s joys are as simple as a child’s.” — Bernard Moitessier

Ripton

Vermont, Massachusetts or somewhere in between

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February 1, 2016 - 8:53 pm

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If your on Facebook look up Adult Starters - Viola... Barry set this up and has been a great networking tool...

Fiddlerman

Fort Lauderdale

February 7, 2016 - 5:06 pm

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Welcome Dan. We need viola players here. Luckily a lot of playing a viola is very similar to playing the violin.
We do have violaman.com but as Ripton said, it's not very popular. As a matter of a fact, if you remove Ripton from that site, it's almost dead. 🙁
(thanks Ripton :))
We also have a viola section here, which I believe has a stronger chance of developing than violaman.com
Glad to have you here and looking forward to getting to know you.

"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."